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“It was all a lie then,” Mace said. He wasn’t asking, more telling, and that felt like a kick in the gut to Owen.
“Yeah, sorry, Prez,” Jag taunted. “I guess that we’re just going to have to get on with it then. We were hoping to make it look like an accident. Maybe even blame a rival gang or something, you know. But with three of you now, that’s going to be a little bit harder.”
“Well, fuck, guys,” Maverick said, “we can just leave, and you won’t have to worry about any of that. Or,” he said, pulling the gun from his holster, “we can just make your deaths look like an accident.” He pointed his gun at Jag and Owen had to hand it to the guy, he didn’t even flinch. Owen did the same, pointing his gun at Gunner.
“You are still outnumbered,” Jag reminded. “Four guns to two,” he said.
“Three,” Mace corrected.
“Four to three is still outnumbered,” Gunner breathed.
“You know, for an asshole, your math isn’t too bad,” a man called from the front door as it swung open. Mav’s twin brother Steel stood in the doorway holding a shotgun that had belonged to their father, wearing a shit-eating grin to match his brother’s.
“You got my message,” Maverick said.
“Yeah, you’re just lucky that I was in town for a bit,” Steel insisted.
“You were in town and didn’t bother to let us know?” Mav asked.
“Um, can you two bicker like old women later?” Owen asked. “It’s good to see you, brother, but my girl is being held by her asshole ex-boss and I’d like to get back home to kill the fucker before he hurts her.”
“Right, you go get your woman and we’ll handle these assholes,” Maverick said. He walked across the bar room and held his gun at the two guys in the corner. “They’ll cooperate if they know what’s good for them. I mean, my twin brother over there is lethal in about a dozen different countries.”
Steel shrugged, “Probably more than a dozen, but who’s counting? It’s good to see you too, little brother. You do what you have to do and report back to us when you are both safe. I can’t wait to meet your girl.”
“Will do,” he said, looking back over his shoulder. “Thanks for everything you guys,” he said. “I don’t know what I would have done without you three.” Mace, Maverick, and Steel grumbled something collectively about him being a mushy pussy, making him laugh as he made his way back out of the bar. He ran to his pickup and said a little prayer that he’d be able to get to Tilly before it was too late. He was going to introduce her to his oldest brother, Steel, and then, he was going to convince her to become his bride. It was time he let her make an honest man out of him and there was no way that he’d be letting her go just because her crazy ex-boss was out of her life. He was in love with Tilly, and it was about time that he told her.
Tilly
Tilly felt as though she was holding her breath waiting for Nate to come back to the family room from the kitchen. She knew that as soon as he did, her time would be up. That thought scared the hell out of her, but not knowing what he planned to do next, or even where he was, was even more terrifying.
“Come on and answer your fucking phone, Jag,” he shouted from the other room. She was sure that he was talking about the new guy down at the club, Jagger. He and another guy named Gunner had joined the Reapers about the same time that she had hooked up with Owen. In fact, every time Owen took her into his club for a meeting, she noticed the two of them there. They were always watching her too, but she never really put two and two together and came up with them being her ex-boss’s silent partners.
“Fuck,” Nate shouted, and Tilly knew that her time was just about up. She closed her eyes as she heard him walking out of the kitchen and back to her. Tilly was sure that as soon as she opened her eyes, her life would end. Instead, she heard a loud thud and opened her eyes to find Nate lying on the floor in front of her with Owen standing over him.
“Owen,” she sobbed.
“Hey, honey,” he breathed. “I’m sorry that I left you alone and that this asshole got to you.”
“You didn’t know,” she cried. “He has partners, and they are part of your club. I think it might be Jagger and Gunner—the new guys.” Owen kneeled in front of her and nodded as he freed her ankles from the rope bindings.
“I know,” he said. “They were waiting for Mav and me when we got to the bar. Luckily, Mace was there too and my brother, Steel showed up.”
“Maverick’s twin?” she asked.
“Yep,” Owen breathed, “apparently, Mav called him and filled him in on what was happening he showed up just in time and well, as soon as everything was under control at the bar, I took off for home. I shouldn’t have left you. This whole thing was a setup and I fell for it like an idiot.”
“You couldn’t have known. We had no idea that Nate had partners. He told me that he was working for them and that they wanted me dead. I guess you got here just in time to stop him from following through with their orders. I just can’t figure out what they were doing though. Why would he need partners?”
“Jagger and Gunner were using his company to launder money. They weren’t really his partners, more like his bosses. They were moving their dirty money through the corporation and giving Nate a cut. And the greedy bastard was fine with it all. He made the hard drive as backup, in case things went sideways. When you took the drive from his desk, he had to come clean with Jag and Gunner and that’s when they found you at the bar. They were there the night we met.”
“They were?” she squeaked. She didn’t remember much about that night, especially after Nate had knocked her out. Her head injury really messed with her memories of that night.
“Yep, and Nate wasn’t supposed to just knock you out. He was supposed to kill you. But thankfully, he’s a giant pussy and couldn’t follow through. You were a loose end and Jagger and Gunner wanted to get rid of you.”
“That’s what Nate said,” she breathed. “I was so scared that he’d actually go through with it this time.” She looked Nate over and back up at Owen. “Did you kill him?” she asked.
“Naw,” Owen said. “I just knocked his ass out. The cops are on their way. I called them on my way over here.”
